Despite the fact that I am now considerably less excited about lavender (it’s so much more exciting during a season in which it isn’t already being overdone), I’m still quite fond of this look. Enjoy!

I used Rimmel Glam’Eyes in Royal Violet (review) for the violet in this look, but I think I’m going to need a new matte lavender soon – it’s good, for a $5 shadow, but you really have to pack it on. If anyone has recommendations, they’d definitely be appreciated!

To juxtapose something warm and wearable against the ethereal purple tones of Royal Violet, I added a mix of MAC Satin Taupe (swatches) and Ulta Molten (swatches) around the edges and along most of the lower lashline – a sheer layer of Satin Taupe toward the inner corner, and Molten concentrated on the outer corner, to add depth without closing in the eye area.

The look was finished with a smudgy flick of Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in Expresso and one coat of Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara (review). I’d thought about lining with the gorgeous MAC Teddy (review), but the Marcelle won out in the end – though Teddy is absolutely delicious (and a dream to smudge out), the wear time on the Marcelle is so much better.

Since doing this look (and this is a bit of an unrelated ramble), Expresso has actually moved into my “daily” tin – brushes, liners, and mascaras that I find myself reaching for quite often. It’s not breathtaking, but it’s still a lovely chocolate brown with subtle gold flecks; the perfect balance between no-nonsense and attention-grabbing.

One last thing…

Just threw together a quick assortment of other lavender eyeshadows, in case anyone else is being bitten by the lavender bug as well! I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of these, if you’ve tried them, or perhaps if anyone has an etailer recommendation for a nice matte lavender shadow?

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I’ve actually been doing a lot of looks recently, but for whatever reason, I feel like we haven’t posted one forever. So, to change that…

A few months back, I stumbled on the most gorgeous Versace dress while flipping through Monika Jagaciak images (LOVE her). I wanted to mimic the white/pink/violet gradient of the fabric, and added three tiny pieces of glitter to translate a sort of toned-down version of the sparkle. Here’s the dress:

Friday, February 4, 2011

Agron, my most recent girlcrush (she always looks so flawless!) tried out a bolder-than-usual look at the 2011 SAG awards with celeb makeup artist Kate Lee. While I know a lot of people (really) didn’t like it, I absolutely ate it up. Yes, it’s a much more mature look than the one she usually wears, but it was lovely nonetheless!

I couldn’t dupe this look spot-on, simply because we look so different, so this is more of an “inspired by” than it is a “get this look.” I kept the rich chocolate brown eye, paired it with lips of a similar tone (though I opted for a darker shade, which I thought would balance the look better on me), and added similarly glowy, warm, contoured cheeks. All in all? The look used very few products and took a mere fifteen minutes to do, so I’m a happy camper ;) Read on to find out what I used and how you can get this look!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

I realized that we haven’t had a giveaway in ages, so I wanted to put together something special for you lovely ladies. The result? A “favourites” giveaway, of course!

One lucky winner will get to try out a bunch of my faves – my favourite drugstore eyeshadows (Annabelle), one of my favourite drugstore lipstick lines (Marcelle Rouge Xpression), my favourite lid shade for light-to-medium skintones (Halo, and I should probably also note that the opened one in the photograph was my own; the winner will get a sealed one), my favourite deo (technically, I prefer the liquid, but Canada Post says I shouldn’t be shipping that…) and, finally, my favourite off-greige polish (Steel Gray).

The prize

Annabelle Eyeshadow Trio in Rosewood,

Marcelle Rouge Xpression lipstick in Curious,

Marcelle Minerals Eyeshadow in Halo,

The Body Shop DeoDry stick in Fresh & Floral, and

Rimmel Lasting Finish PRO in Steel Gray.

How to enter

There are two easy ways to enter this giveaway, and you’re more than welcome to do both ;)

For one entry, follow @theNotice on Twitter re-tweet the following:
Follow @thenotice and RT to win FIVE of Rae’s favourite products! http://bit.ly/dJWhEJ

For one entry, follow theNotice through Google Friend Connect (over in our right-hand column) and leave a comment about anything at all at the bottom of this post.

This giveaway will run for two weeks (until the 16th of Feb, 2011) and is open internationally following your country’s entrant laws. (Which I think is legal age or over 13 with parental consent?)

Monday, January 10, 2011

Yep… it’s the start of winter term, for those of us who haven’t already had to go back to that torturous place University. A few more months of trudging two blocks through a foot of snow in under ten minutes. A few more months of hauling five pounds of textbooks (and five pounds of scribblers or a laptop) from building to building. A few more months of profs who may-or-may-not absolutely suck!

Needless to say, I needed some major brightening up this morning – so I thought I’d share some swatches of my favourite violet shadows* (because honestly, is there anything better? I say no.) Hope you enjoy! Spot any old favourites (or new cravings)?

Annabelle Insomnia is an LE quad, but I wanted to swatch its lightest violet shade because it’s an interesting one — I didn’t like how sheer it is, but it does have a cool multicoloured-glitter thing going on! You can check out the rest of the swatches here.

Marcelle Dimensional Mauve is also LE, but it’s my lightest violet so I thought I’d include it as well. Swatches of the rest of the quad here. (The darkest shade is actually a pretty good match for Korres Plum, but reflects more blue-violet than red-brown.)

Lancome Angora is a silvery lavender; very cool.

Laura Geller Orchid is part of a duo (Lilac, swatched 3rd from the end, is the other half). Very pink in comparison!

Friday, January 7, 2011

I wanted to share a look with the Rimmel shadows we reviewed earlier this week, but I got bored while doing it… so I hope you enjoy a look that’s a bit more “fun with makeup” and a bit (or perhaps a lot) less “let’s wear this out”!

I’m not totally in love with the look, but I kinda felt like a superhero in a comic from the sixties – which is a good thing, right? Perhaps I’ll post a more wearable look sometime in the future; these shadows really are lovely for an everyday bright eye. I LOVED the lip, though – isn’t it ridiculously plush and fun?